This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
The term “door” is used broadly speaking to indicate any partition movable between an open position and a closed position respectively opening and closing an access opening to an inner compartment of a vehicle, and therefore also includes boot and bonnet lids, rear hatches, sun-roofs, and convertible roofs, in addition to the side doors of vehicles referred to in the description purely by way of example.
As is known, the vehicle doors normally comprise a frame-like top portion defining a window frame closed by a movable window when this is raised; and a box-like bottom portion comprising an outer panel and an inner panel joined at one end by an end edge and defining in between a cavity normally housing the window, when this is lowered, and various component parts fixed to the panels, such as a lock and a window regulating device.
As is also known, a latch is associated with the vehicle door and can include a supporting body fixed to the vehicle door, a closure assembly carried by the supporting body and adapted to releasably engage a striker integral with a fixed doorpost, and a release and lock assembly which can be activated selectively to release the closure assembly from the striker or to lock the closure assembly in a condition of engagement with the striker.
Very briefly, the latch can be set at least into a closed operative condition in which the closure assembly engages the striker and in a second open operative condition in which the striker is released from the closure assembly.
Known latches may also include a system for detecting the operative conditions of the latch. Such detection systems include a magnet fixed to a support element of the closure assembly and which assumes a different position on the basis of the respective operative condition of the latch, a printed circuit board mounted on the supporting body of the latch and nearby to the support element, and a Hall effect sensor mounted on the printed circuit board.
Very briefly, the sensor outputs an electrical signal which varies with the magnetic field detected by the same sensor and, therefore, with the position of the magnet and the operative condition of the latch.
For example, the aforesaid support element could be a gear wheel of a gear-train, which is part of the release and lock assembly and is functionally interposed between the electric motor and the closure assembly.
According to a first known solution, the magnet is fixed by using glue or resin to the plastic part of the rotatable element. However, that first known solution requires a long time for allowing the glue or the resin to dry, thus increasing the time necessary for assembling the latch.
According to a second known solution, the magnet is over-molded inside the plastic rotatable element. However, the second known solution requires to carry out a magnetization step after the magnet has been over-molded. Accordingly, also the second known solution increases the time necessary for assembling the latch.
A need is felt within the industry to obtain a system for detecting the operative condition of the latch which is particularly fast and cheap to assembly.